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Gossip fuels backlash against Jon & Kate Plus 8

As allegations of marriage troubles for the parents on Jon & Kate Plus 8 are splashed across the tabloids, fans are starting to grow weary of the hen-pecked husband, his controlling wife, and their brood of twins and sextuplets.

US Weekly published photos of Jon Gosselin, shown here on the cover with wife Kate, leaving a hotel bar in Reading, Pa., with an unknown woman friend driving his car on April 18.

By:Jennifer Wilson-SpeedyTORONTO STAR, Published on Wed May 06 2009

As allegations of marriage troubles for the parents on Jon & Kate Plus 8 are splashed across the tabloids, fans are starting to grow weary of the hen-pecked husband, his controlling wife, and their brood of twins and sextuplets.

Last week, Us Weekly magazine ran pictures of reality-TV dad Jon Gosselin leaving a Pennsylvania bar with a woman (later identified as Deanna Hummel). He later issued a statement saying the woman is only a friend but also said the incident "showed poor judgment on my part."

This isn't the first time "poor judgment" has landed him in the headlines. In February, Gosselin was seen getting cozy with some Pennsylvania coeds, though a release later said they were fans asking for a photo.

But the marriage drama, real or not, is merely a part of what's distancing fans from one of TLC's most popular shows.

The couple turned to fertility treatments after Kate was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, and had twins Mady and Cara in 2000.

Deciding that they wanted just one more, the pair tried again and ended up with sextuplets Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah and Joel in 2004.

When the family first appeared on Surviving Sextuplets and Twins, a one-hour special on Discovery Health, it was hard not to feel for exhausted parents Jon and Kate. Fans watched as the kids had meltdowns while their parents bickered and struggled to find the time and money to raise their large family.

But as the seasons wore on (the fifth begins May 25) the squabbles wore thin – Kate even yelled at Jon for breathing too loud in one episode – and their lifestyle became less relatable.

They've become multimedia stars, appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show and other daytime hits, magazine covers and TV specials; Kate is currently promoting her second bestselling book on their lives, Eight Little Faces: A Mom's Journey.

Parents such as Cheryl Leung, mother to 1-year-old Hannah, got hooked in the beginning because she could identify with the family and sympathized with them. But Leung stopped watching the series last summer. "It just seemed like a half-hour-long commercial. It's not a realistic portrayal of what family life is like – not just for families with eight kids like theirs, but families in general. Most people don't live in a house that big, don't receive gifts, toys, products to test or use."

While ratings are still strong, Leung's feelings are part of a growing wave of discontentment with the family in the blogosphere.

Over the past week, commenters on the blog have weighed in on the late-night photos of Jon and his female friend. Some people say it's no wonder Jon may want to stray, but a common thread was concern for the children and the question of who was looking after the kids while Jon was at a bar and Kate was on her book tour.

As fans become concerned over whether the children are being exploited, viewers may also be hitting multiple birth overload. TLC's lineup includes the Duggar family in 18 Kids and Counting (originally 17 Kids and Counting), and the Hayes and their two sets of twins and sextuplets in Table for 12. And, of course, the birth of octuplets to California's Octomom Nadya Suleman in January created a media frenzy as it was revealed that she was unmarried, unemployed and already had six other children.

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